Though Christ is in us, our body still remains dead because of sin. After reading the previous message in which we have pointed out that God has condemned sin in the flesh, some may say, “Since God has condemned sin, sin cannot function anymore. Our body is no longer dead—it is now alive.” This is not the right understanding of Paul’s word. Although God has condemned sin in the flesh, sin continues to dwell in our body, and thus our body is still dead. There is much argument about this point. Some say that since God has condemned sin on the cross, sin has been nullified and believers cannot sin. Some even say that after we are saved sin is eradicated or uprooted. The school of eradication teaches that when we were saved the root of sin within us was extracted. All those who follow this school believe that sin has been eradicated from the being of a saved person.
About forty years ago in Shanghai there was a preacher who taught strongly this concept of eradication. He told people that they cannot sin after they are saved. One day, this preacher and several young men who sat under his teaching went to the city park in Shanghai. That park required the purchase of a ticket in order to be admitted. This man bought three or four tickets to be used by a total of five persons. How did he do this? Firstly, some of them entered the park with the tickets. Then one of them came out with the tickets and gave a ticket to one of the others. This continued until all five men had entered the park. In this sinful way that preacher brought his four young disciples through the gate of the park. As a result of this, one of the young men began to doubt the teaching of eradication. He said within himself, “What are you doing? You say that sin has been eradicated from you. What is this?” Eventually the young man went to the preacher and said, “Was that not a sin?” The preacher replied, “No, that was not a sin. That was just a little weakness.” Regardless of the terms we use, sin is sin. Although you may call it by another name, it remains sin nonetheless. Never accept a teaching which says that we have become so spiritual and holy that it is impossible for us to sin. If we accept such a doctrine, we will be deceived, and the result will be misery.
The Lord Jesus did accomplish everything on the cross, but the effect of what He did can only be realized by us when we are in the Spirit. In fact, whatever Christ did on the cross includes us. We do have a share, a portion, in all that Christ accomplished on the cross. This is a glorious fact. However, we still need to experience it. Although the sin in our body has been fully dealt with by the cross of Christ, how can we experience this fact? The only way is to be in the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is all-inclusive. Whatever Christ is, did, obtained, and attained is in the all-inclusive Spirit. Thus, if we are going to experience all that we have in Christ, we need to be experimentally and experientially in the Spirit. It is the all-inclusive Spirit that transmits into us all that we have in Christ.
We cannot afford to stay away from the Spirit. Day by day, hour after hour, and even moment by moment, we need to be in the Spirit. Do not say, “Last night I had a wonderful time with the Lord. Now I am holier than the angels and all my problems are over.” Although you might have had such an experience for a brief moment last night, if you do not stay in the all-inclusive Spirit you may sink as low as hell. Do not say that since you have received a certain vision or revelation or had a particular spiritual experience that you are holy and have no problems. If you say this you may later find yourself in wretchedness.
A good type of the Spirit is the air. We need to breathe the air constantly. We can never say, “In the morning I breathed deeply, taking in a lot of fresh air. Now I am filled with the air and don’t need to breathe any longer.” You should never stop breathing and you should never stay away from the air. Never think that since you have been filled once you do not need to breathe any more. If you stop breathing, you will be dead after five minutes. The experience of the Spirit of life is like breathing. We need to breathe every moment. We must remain in the life-giving Spirit, for once we are separated from Him we are dead. Do not say that you are qualified and experienced. You need to be always fresh and new. I do not care how long I have been saved or how long I have been experiencing the Lord’s riches. I only care for one thing—that I am presently in the Spirit. I must be freshly and instantly in the Spirit. The life-giving Spirit is like the breath. We must breathe Him unceasingly.